About my first tattoo.

Just for those that didn't notice the drum is a modern snare drum and not a traditional drum. This is to represent my passion for playing the drumset in a modern music setting. I wanted the art to look similar to a dreamcatcher, thus the other items hanging off the drum hardware in the same manner items hang from a dreamcatcher.

The Drum is considered one of the three major sacred objects in Cree and Algonquin tribal teachings, along with the Pipe and the Eagle feather. Traditionally, when a drum is at rest, it is wrapped or cradled in a blanket as a sign of respect for it's Grandmother spirit. So that is why it is wrapped here.

The Drum and it's related music are regarded as powerful healers, and songs are always part of any medicine ritual, with the drumbeat signifying the heart of Mother Earth. So, in keeping with that, Grandfather Bear is the keeper of magic, medicine, music and mystery in the west, the direction that holds the power of healing, regeneration, sleep and most importantly Dreaming. I chose the Grizzly paw print to symbolize these principles on the drumhead.

The arrow head symbolizes work, labour and perseverance.

The claw represents protection of my spirit from negativity and destructiveness.

The Medicine pouch is there to show that I am a traveller, collecting new power from the weight of life's experiences, storing that power within myself and releasing some of it as creative energy through the pursuit of my music.

Eagle feathers are of course pretty much self explanatory , however, I chose to use three here, to represent the three ages of mankind, youth, adulthood and elderhood. This is more of a European concept, and native culture rarely uses the number 3, but I thought that it would be a good symbolic balance to remind me that I am a walker of two roads at the same time.